Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-09-17

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The younger sister of one of your friends is thinking about spending a year studying abroad as part of her university course. You did this recently, and she has asked you about your experience.

Write a letter to your friend's sister. In your letter

• tell her where you studied during your year abroad

• describe what you learnt about the country you studied in

• explain why your year abroad was helpful for your studies

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear........,

Student answer (Band 6.0)

Dear Karina,

First of all thanks for seeking my advise on international student exchange program in which you got a chance to stay in a foreign country, of your choice to learn their culture and technology. I am as excited for you as I was, when I first selected in University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada.

As you know I was in Canada for a complete year, under international student exchange scheme. To be specific, I was in provincial sponsored University of BC, for my thesis on Human Psycology. While I was studying there, I had chance to volunteer for indeginious people development department, which directly interact with indigenious people. Through this program I got a chance to learn the culture, traditions and last but not least their knowledge of local plant species which help them to stay healthy for centuries. My experience of interacting with local community teaches me a lot of skills and life lessons along with beautiful glimpse of history.

My studies usually roam around human brain, and it's functionality, but during my foreign stay, I learned Canadian way of thinking with their social evolution. This experience was completely different from what I have learned from my homecountry.

I would definitely recommend you

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 6.5

The letter successfully covers all bullet points required by the prompt. You mentioned where you studied ("University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada"), described what you learnt about the country ("culture, traditions and... knowledge of local plant species"), and explained why the year abroad was helpful for your studies ("thesis on Human Psychology... Canadian way of thinking with their social evolution"). However, the response cuts off mid-sentence at the very end ("I would definitely recommend you"), which leaves the final recommendation incomplete. Despite this minor truncation, all core communicative requirements of the task have been addressed with relevant and well-developed ideas.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The letter is generally clear and easy to follow, with a logical progression of ideas from the greeting to the details of your stay. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate different themes, such as the introduction and location in the first paragraph, the cultural experiences in the second, and the academic benefits in the third. Cohesive devices are used adequately (e.g., "To be specific", "While I was studying there"), though the overall flow is somewhat disrupted by the abrupt ending of the text. Referencing is mostly clear, though occasional mechanical transitions keep the response below a higher band.

Lexical Resource — Band 6.0

You demonstrate an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as "international student exchange scheme", "provincial sponsored", and "social evolution". However, there are a few noticeable spelling and word choice errors throughout the text, including "advise" instead of the noun "advice", "indeginious" instead of "indigenous", "Psycology" instead of "psychology", and "homecountry" as a single word. Despite these inaccuracies, communication is never impeded, and your vocabulary allows you to convey your experiences effectively.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some control over grammar (e.g., relative clauses such as "which help them to stay healthy for centuries"). However, there are several grammatical errors and punctuation slips present, such as unnecessary commas ("I was as excited for you as I was, when I first selected in University"), incorrect prepositions ("selected in" instead of "selected for" or "enrolled at"), and a missing preposition in "interact with indigenious people" (should be plural). Additionally, the sentence "My studies usually roam around human brain" uses an inappropriate verb collocation. These errors rarely impede communication but prevent a higher score.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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